Hedgecraft: The Witches Year

Hedgecraft is the art of wortcunning; knowing plants not just by their botany, but by the currents of magic that run through them. It is knowing how to find what you need to heal and nourish with that which flourishes just outside your doorstep. This class series will provide the student with a primer in the working knowledge of the cottage witch (or cunning person) in Appalachia. By learning to identify, harvest and craft folk preparations that our ancestors used to treat common ailments and maintain good health, we will better understand ourselves through our relationship with the land.

These classes are five in number and each one finds energetic inspiration from one of the four elemental powers. The fifth class shall draw from the unification of them all, the spirit. Drawing deeply from the taproot of the Old World and Appalachian folk magic that we are immersed in, we will rediscover which plants cure and which plants curse. Each class we will focus on at least one new potion making technique, as well as wild food and condiment creation. We’ll also create and empower amulets, talismans and wooden works from the forest around us to travel home with. Step back into the seasonal wisdom of the plants and trees around you to embody the ways of the Wild and the botany of the Witch.

+Seasons of the Witch+

These classes are from 9 AM to 5 PM with one hour lunch breaks at our beautiful location​ in Barnardsville, North Carolina.​We'll potluck together and share shade or warmth as we watch the seasons change.

You may join us for one class or all of them. ​

+Schedule+

Spring: Air (March 31st)As the snow melts and warmer winds begin to blow across our winter-rough faces, we hear the first whispers of Spring. After Candlemas on February 2nd, we see the days continue to lengthen as we head towards the Summer Solstice, yet the nights are still too chill to truly feel that we have left the cold behind. Plants like violet, nettle, chickweed, and trees like wild cherry bark, and birch will grace us with their food and medicine, as well as their magic. We will explore Appalachian Spring tonics, vinegars, teas and decoctions, the rituals of preparing the land for the new year of growth and the charms that people renewed each year for protection and fertility.

Early Summer: Water (June 2nd)The Wheel has turned once more as we near Midsummer, Solstice, on June 21st or thereabouts. St. John’s Day. The Sun shines downwards and we squint our eyes up at its brightness, drawing growth from the leaves, flowers and fruits all around us. The bushes are laden with wine berries, blackberries, and raspberries. We will explore the ancient and delicious healing of oxymels, the plethora of witches herbs of midsummer, and create charms and amulets for protection from meddlesome spirits who roam the lands at this halfway point in the witches year.

Late Summer: Fire (August 11th)While we begin gathering the harvests of those Things we planted in Spring, we plant the Things we shall harvest in Autumn. Now we reflect on those seeds we planted, and what strange fruits they will bear. Lammas loaves are behind us, but the rites and rituals of the first Harvest are upon us. We will craft tinctures and infused honeys from those plants that flourish during these warm days. The lore of late Summer in Appalachia is rich and wild, come and taste the dark fruits of the Elder mother.

Fall: Earth (Sept 29th)The pumpkins are orange, the squash are all harvested, and the red peppers hang in heavy bunches from the eaves, drying to warm us this winter. The Bone Mother, the Witch Father, they will soon run their icy fingers along the green stalks of goldenrod and Joe Pye, rendering them lifeless and crisp, to rot away in the soil and feed next year’s sproutlings. This part of the year, when the veils separating the living and the dead are the thinnest, there are whispers in every wood and the smell of Grandmother’s perfume hangs in the air. We will delve into the world of ancestor ritual, select magical and medicinal herbs to dry and make our own herbally infused oils to soothe and delight the skin in Winter. Spirit work will call us over the hedge as we craft magical inks for rune and sigil rites. Winter: The All- Spirit (Nov 17th)The Bone Mother will soon touch the Earth with her cold, iron blasting rod of frost. The green leaves have begun to die and the garden beds are sleeping. We will craft warming concoctions of plants like Pine and Spruce, Spicebush twig and mint. The art of Winter Solstice baking and kitchen witchery will end our five class series. After crafting herbed salts for magic both occult and culinary, we'll feast on baked goods crafted with the bounty we've stored from the warm months behind us. Finally, rich salves of warming oils and fats will bubble on our stove top to be jarred up to heal the chapped skin we'll ward off in the chill times to come. We will peer back over the hedge at the old year and walk forward with the knowledge of the plants and trees we've met along this elemental journey. ​